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In a huff of breath, the Texans minicamp came and went. Unlike OTAs, which are voluntary, minicamp is a mandatory set of practices. Those practices ended yesterday. The Texans are done. They won’t be practicing playing professional football until training camp pops off in Greenbrier, West Virginia late next month.
O’Brien says no more minicamp practice. #Texans players will only have meetings tomorrow. Next practice will be in camp @The_Greenbrier.
— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) June 13, 2018
When training camp does begin, the Texans will stay in West Virginia for a shorter period of time than they did last year. They will return to Houston after the first preseason game this time.
Bill O’Brien says #Texans will return to Houston after 1st preseason game vs. KC and will scrimmage vs. 49ers ahead of 2nd preseason game.
— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) June 13, 2018
Aside from that, there were a few other things that came out of minicamp. The first is that the Texans donated $100,000 to the Sante Fe High Shool Memorial Fund. The Texans also hosted kids from the school’s football team. Following Tuesday’s practice, players and coaches took photos and signed autographs.
The #Texans hosted the Santa Fe High School football team at practice and donated $100,000 to the #SantaFeStrong Memorial Fund.
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 12, 2018
: https://t.co/P4x1AbdcBO pic.twitter.com/EsaRxd1mQd
In other news, DeAndre Hopkins felt slighted by the NFL Network after he and Will Fuller V weren’t even mentioned in a discussion regarding the NFL’s best wide receiver duos. If Fuller V turns 50% of his catches into touchdowns this season, this won’t even be an argument.
They forgot about us @Will_Fuller7 https://t.co/gV1KauGBcm
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) June 13, 2018
Deshaun Watson isn’t wearing a knee brace. He feels good! As he enters his second NFL season, he’s way ahead of where he was last year. Man, it’s going to be fun to watch him play again.
Deshaun Watson said he’s “light years” ahead mentally of where he was this time last year. pic.twitter.com/ktO8RSmniD
— Drew Dougherty (@DoughertyDrew) June 13, 2018
.@deshaunwatson says his knee is doing good: "For the nine week goal that we put in I'm pretty much where I want to be, kind of past it..(Says he's made great progress with the #Texans system) "I'm light years away where I was last year." pic.twitter.com/sEfryebZnZ
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 13, 2018
Lastly, there was some injury news. Jadeveon Clowney didn’t participate in practice again; he‘s still out after cleaning his knee up at the end of last season. Now, it‘s not time to panic. If Clowney is misses training camp, then yes, that would be a good time to maybe consider panicking, if panicking was an option.
Martinas Rankin had foot surgery. He is expected to be back by the start of the regular season. Please. He better be. Even against a meek New England pass rush, Seantrel Henderson as the Week One starting right tackle is a disaster. I can already see it. It’s Kendall Lamm at left tackle all over again.
Texans rookie Martinas Rankin recovering from foot surgery https://t.co/IPtDRrAAAn via @HoustonChron
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 13, 2018
Also, Tyler Ervin has been cleared to play again. He will be ready for the start of training camp after tearing his petallar tendon last year. Hopefully during his time away he learned out to catch punts and kick-offs with his hands instead of his face.
Texans RB/KR Tyler Ervin cleared medically https://t.co/uK4Kkyx07S via @HoustonChron
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 13, 2018
That’s pretty much everything that happened during the Texans’ minicamp this week. Soon it will be a month and a half later, and the Texans will start their 2018 training camp. At that point, football will truly begin again.